AVRR Newsletter Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration from

Austria

International Organization for Migration

Autumn 2015

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

we are pleased to be able to present our first observations within the

framework of the “RESTART” project. The project, co-financed by the

Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) of the EU and by the

Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior, started on 1 July 2015 and

offers support to voluntary returnees to Afghanistan, Pakistan and the

Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation.

In the course of the project we would also like to address the scientific

debate on the topic of return migration. To that purpose we present the

latest study of the European Migration Network (EMN), which examines

the dissemination of information about voluntary return to irregular

migrants who are not in contact with the authorities.

Furthermore we want to introduce our latest project „FamA –

Assessment of the family situation of unaccompanied minors wishing to

return voluntarily from Austria”, which started in September 2015 and

deals with the voluntary return of minors.

As we know how much our readers appreciate reintegration stories of

returnees, we also tell the success story of a teenager who returned to

the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation in the year 2013.

We wish you a pleasant read!

With best regards,

Your AVRR Team

IOM Country Office for Austria

Editorial

In this edition:

Three months into RESTART: Initial

observations and challenges ……….…………p. 2

EMN Study: Dissemination of information on

voluntary return within Austria. How to reach

irregular migrants not in contact with the

authorities……………………………………….…..p. 3

Of dumplings, friends and family – story of

return of an unaccompanied minor to the

Chechen Republic……………………………….…p. 4

FamA - Assessment of the family situation of

unaccompanied minors wishing to return

voluntarily from Austria………………………...p. 5

Department for Assisted Voluntary Return

and Reintegration

International Organization for Migration

Country Office for Austria

Nibelungengasse 13/4

1010 Vienna

Tel: +43 (0) 1 585 3322 22

E-mail: avrr.vienna@iom.int

This newsletter and the activities described within are co-

funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund

(AMIF) of the European Union and the Austrian Federal

Ministry of the Interior.

1

Streetview, Pakistan © IOM 2014.

AVRR Newsletter International Organization for Migration — Austria Autumn 2015

2

After the start of the project „RESTART“, which is co-financed

by the Austrian Ministry of the Interior and the Asylum, Migra-

tion and Integration Fund of the European Union, on 1 July

2015, it soon turned out that the returnees’ interest to parti-

cipate was very high. Out of 330 available places, more than

one third were filled within the first three months1

. In order to

prevent the necessity to prematurely end the assistance provi-

ded by the project – which will be implemented until 31

December 2016 – new eligibility criteria were introduced: In

addition to the original rule that returnees to the Chechen

Republic/ Russian Federation need to have resided in Austria

for at least six months prior to the application for reintegra-

tion assistance, applications of returnees to Afghanistan and

Pakistan are now subject to the criterion of a minimum length

of stay in Austria of three months.

Apart from the great need for reintegration measures, which

affects all three countries of origin, there were also

country-specific developments.

Pakistan: Parachinar as most important destination

While earlier returnees to Pakistan had returned mainly to the

Punjab Province, most notably the area surrounding Lahore,

Pakistani participants within the RESTART project foremost

return to Parachinar, which is situated at the western tip of

the Federally Administered Tribal Areas at the border to

Afghanistan.

This poses a challenge to the project implementation: As

Parachinar is about a ten-hours-drive away from the closest

IOM office in Islamabad, project participants have to be

counselled via telephone. In order to receive their

re-integration assistance, they have to send their supporting

documents per post to IOM in Pakistan. Furthermore, the

monitoring proves to be a challenge, since IOM employees are

not allowed to travel to these areas due to security reasons.

On-site visits to returnees and their business premises are

therefore impossible.

Afghanistan: Project implementation under difficult

security conditions

The deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan also

affects the reintegration chances of the Afghan RESTART-

returnees. During the initial assessment of the situation after

return, a significant part of Afghan project participants

indicated that the security situation poses a great challenge

to them. The security situation indirectly also leads to poorer

starting conditions, as many migrants are afraid to return to

their actual places of origin and increasingly move to Kabul,

where they do not have the same social networks available.

The work of IOM, too, is affected by the security situation. For

security reasons, the IOM office in Kunduz had to be closed,

and the office in Kabul repeatedly has to stop their

operations due to security warnings. This can lead to delays

in the implementation of reintegration support. IOM regrets

any inconveniences caused to project participants, but cannot

avoid measures that ensure the safety of its staff.

Russian Federation/ Chechen Republic:

Continuity as particularity

Returnees to the Chechen Republic differ from Afghan and

Pakistani RESTART-project participants primarily due to their

heterogeneous age structure, an even sex distribution, as

well as the fact that they often return with several family

members. As a result, different reintegration assistance

measures are called for, such as medical support for elderly

participants. The fact that there are many children returning

with their parents to the Chechen Republic has, however, only

received little attention before. In order to address their

reintegration needs, events are now planned which bring

them together with other children; this could enable them to

make new friends in an environment which is often very new

to them. We are already very excited about the

implementation of these events for children and will of

course report about them in one of the next Newsletter

editions.

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Only one person per household can participate in the “RESTART“-

project.

Three months into RESTART: Initial observations and challenges

The project “RESTART – Reintegration Assistance for Voluntary Returnees to Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Russian

Federation/ the Chechen Republic” started on 1 July 2015 and has already generated a few surprises within the first

months of implementation. In the following contribution we will present the first insights.

Mr. K. in front of his future business site

© IOM 2015.

Parachinar, Capital of Kurram Agency in the Federally

Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)

© UNITED NATIONS 2004.

AVRR Newsletter International Organization for Migration — Austria Autumn 2015

Publication:

EMN Study: Dissemination of information on voluntary return

within Austria. How to reach irregular migrants not in contact

with the authorities

How do migrants know that they can be supported in their voluntary return? For

migrants who are in contact with Austrian authorities, the question can be easily

answered: they will receive appropriate information from authorities and

relevant counselling institutions. Persons who are obliged to leave the country,

but are not (or no longer) in contact with the authorities,

may, however, not be aware about the possibility to obtain

assistance for their voluntary return. Within the framework of

the European Migration Network (EMN), the EU Member

States have carried out national studies on this topic, the

results of which have been summarized in a synthesis report.

The Austrian study, published by the EMN’s National Contact

Point Austria in August 2015, offers insights into data and

estimations about migrants residing irregularly in Austria.

The study examines various actors and their methods of

disseminating information regarding support in the area of

voluntary return and reintegration. It focuses not only on the

traditional actors in the field of return, such as the Federal

Office for Immigration and Asylum (BFA), the embassies of

the countries of origin and the return counselling

institutions; but also presents other social and health

institutions which are used by migrants, such as AmberMed

or Louise Bus. They can play an important role in the

distribution of information, especially for irregular migrants

who do not have access to the traditional information pools.

The study was presented within the framework of the

national EMN conference “Irregular Migration and Return

in the EU and Austria”, which was organized by the National

Contact Point Austria in September 2015. At the conference, the EMN’s National

Contact Points of France and Norway also presented their study results;

furthermore experts such as the scientist Katie Kuschminder of the Maastricht

Graduate School of Governance, and Fabian Lutz, Migration and Asylum expert

of the European Commission and co-author of the Return Directive 2008,

provided insights into current research activities, the work of the European

Commission and their findings. The presentations as well as the report of the

conference are available online.

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EMN Study: Dissemination of Information on Voluntary Return within Austria. How to reach irregular

Migrants not in contact with the Authorities:

http://www.emn.at/images/Studies/EMN_InfoOnReturn2015_AT_EMN_NCP_en.pdf

EMN Synthesis Report:

http://www.emn.at/images/Studies/info_on_return_synthesis_report_20102015_final.pdf

Conference report and presentations:

http://www.emn.at/en/events/emn-events

AVRR Newsletter International Organization for Migration — Austria Autumn 2015

1

Name changed for data protection reasons.

2

Russian dairy product, similar to sour cream.

Of dumplings, friends and family -

Story of return of an unaccompanied minor to the Chechen Republic

Occasionally, unaccompanied minors participate in the

reintegration projects implemented by IOM Austria. For

this Newsletter edition, IOM Austria wanted to know how

Idris A.1

was doing after his return to the Chechen

Republic and interviewed him per telephone about his

current situation and his future plans. He answered all

our questions in perfect German.

Idris participated in the project “AVRR Chechnya VI”, which

was co-financed by the Austrian Federal Ministry of the

Interior and the European Return Fund from 2013 to 2015.

He had come to Austria at the age of nine, and for five and a

half years lived with his aunt and uncle in Innsbruck, where

he also attended school. During this period, his parents and

siblings were still living in the Chechen Republic. In October

2013 he returned there voluntarily; at that time he was only

14 years old.

After his return Idris contacted the NGO Vesta, which

supports returnees on behalf of IOM. After several

consultation sessions, he and his family decided to use the

reintegration assistance to purchase two cows. As Idris had

lived in Austria for a long time, his Russian language skills

were not sufficient to follow the lectures at school without

problems. For this reason he received additional

reintegration assistance in order to improve his Russian with

a private teacher. Furthermore, the family received legal

counselling on the re-application for child welfare, school

enrollment and the application for a Russian internal

passport.

Idris is now 16 years old and attends the 10th class of

middle school. He told us that the family is still in

possession of the cows. He supports his parents by tending

the cows and, in summer, by helping on the field. The family

sells part of the milk, but also uses milk and dairy products

like butter and Smetana2

for their own needs. Idris said that

the cows had become dear to him and are important for the

family.

When asked why he had wanted to return to the Chechen

Republic and whether this had been his own decision, he

answered: “It is difficult to live without one´s parents and

siblings. I needed a lot of time to think about it, but I took

the return decision all by myself.” IOM Austria wanted to

know whether he regretted his decision to return to the

Chechen Republic. Idris responded to the question: “No,

everything is fine! I do not regret my decision.”

After finishing school Idris would like to study Interpreting

German and English in Grozny. In April 2014 Idris

participated in a National Linguistics Olympiad and won the

first place for German and the second place for English.

About this he was “very happy – after all it was an Olympiad!”

In order not to forget German, he actively practices by

staying in contact with his friends in Vienna and Innsbruck

via Facebook. IOM Austria asked whether there was

something about Austria that he missed. He answered: “Yes!

I miss shopping centers, dumplings, the beautiful play-

grounds and my friends.“

Chechen landscape

© IOM 2010.

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Idris A. with one of the cows in the field

© IOM 2014.

FamA - Assessment of the family situation of unaccompanied minors

wishing to return voluntarily from Austria

A new project, implemented by IOM Austria, offers

support to legal guardians of unaccompanied minors by

conducting family assessments in the countries of

potential return.

Unaccompanied minors constitute a significant group of

asylum seekers in Austria. While most of them want to

build up their lives in Austria, a very small group among

them expresses the wish to return back to their country of

origin. However, their return poses a number of questions

and challenges to all involved parties, including the minors,

their families in the countries of return, the Child and

Youth Welfare institutions that are entrusted with their

legal guardianship, the return counsellors, as well as to

IOM when requested to take care of the travel

arrangements.

Bearing in mind that the best interest principle shall be

given primary consideration in all matters related to

minors, IOM can only support a voluntary return of an

unaccompanied minor if a legal guardian who is ready to

receive and take care of the child has been identified in the

country of return, and if a careful best interest

determination has been carried out by the minor’s legal

guardian in Austria.

Communication and cooperation between return

counsellors, legal guardians and IOM at the earliest

possible stage is the best way to deal with the challenges

and ensure that the final solution respects international

child protection standards.

In order to be able to take an informed decision on whether a

minor’s return is in his/her best interest, first-hand

information on the situation in the country of origin is

needed; the family and the socio-economic situation have to

be assessed in order to ascertain that the family environment

can secure the minor’s safety, wellbeing and development

and exclude, to the extent possible, any risks of abuse.

Since September 2015, IOM Austria offers legal guardians of

unaccompanied minors in Austria the possibility to conduct a

family assessment in the minors’ country of origin.

Respective IOM offices can collect current information on the

minor’s family, its socio-economic situation and living

conditions, access to education and health care, as well as

the potential to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the child.

A family assessment can only be carried out at the request of

a legal guardian and the minor and with the family’s consent;

its results remain confidential. In case voluntary return is in

the best interest of the minor, IOM can arrange his or her

return in accordance with IOM standards.

Return counsellors are welcome to refer the responsible

representatives of the Child and Youth Welfare institutions to

IOM Austria in order to discuss the possibility of conducting

a family assessment for unaccompanied minors prior to

taking their decision regarding the voluntary return.

Feel free to contact us in case you have any questions!

Your contact persons is:

Agata Foryś (aforys@iom.int or 01/ 585 33 22 20)

Family assessment at the residence of a minor

© IOM Italy.

Department for Assisted Voluntary Return and

Reintegration

International Organization for Migration

Country Office for Austria

Nibelungengasse 13/4 — 1010 Vienna

+43 (0) 1 585 3322 22

This newsletter and the activities described within are co-

funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund

(AMIF) of the European Union and the Austrian Federal

Ministry of the Interior.

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AVRR Newsletter International Organization for Migration — Austria Autumn 2015